Heidi Victoria (born Heidi Mitterlehner on 12 October 1967) is a professional photographer and former Australian politician. She was a member of the

Victorian Legislative Assembly The Victorian Legislative Assembly is the lower house of the bicameral Parliament of Victoria in Australia; the upper house being the Victorian Legislative Council. Both houses sit at Parliament House in Spring Street, Melbourne. The presiding ...

, representing

Bayswater Bayswater is an area within the City of Westminster in West London. It is a built-up district with a population density of 17,500 per square kilometre, and is located between Kensington Gardens to the south, Paddington to the north-east, and ...

for the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...

from 2006 to 2018.

Early life

Victoria was born in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

to an Austrian father and a New Zealand mother. She completed her HSC in 1984, and went on to complete her BA in Fine Art Photography in 1988 at the

Phillip Institute of Technology Philip, also Phillip, is a male given name, derived from the Greek (''Philippos'', lit. "horse-loving" or "fond of horses"), from a compound of (''philos'', "dear", "loved", "loving") and (''hippos'', "horse"). Prominent Philips who popularize ...

(now part of

RMIT University RMIT University, officially the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology,, section 4(b) is a public research university in Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city ...

). Prior to her election, Victoria owned and operated her own photography business, specialising in portraits and event photography.

Political career

Within the Liberal Party, Victoria has served as branch president, vice-president and secretary; state and federal electorate council delegate; fundraiser; branch development officer; and State council and Federal conference delegate. She was elected to the seat of Bayswater at the November 2006 election. In November 2009, she was named Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Arts, following her strong involvement in the campaign to prevent the proposed changes to the Victorian College of the Arts. After

Ted Baillieu Edward Norman Baillieu (born 31 July 1953) is a former Australian politician who was Premier of Victoria from 2010 to 2013. He was a Liberal Party member of the Victorian Legislative Assembly from 1999 to 2014, representing the electorate of ...

resigned as Premier in March 2013, Victoria was given the ministerial portfolios of Arts, Women's Affairs and Consumer Affairs within the

Denis Napthine Denis Vincent Napthine (born 6 March 1952) is a former Australian politician who was the 47th Premier of Victoria. Napthine was a Liberal Party member of the Victorian Legislative Assembly, representing the electoral district of Portland from ...

cabinet.

Controversies

In July 2009, Victoria was asked to apologise for using unparliamentary language during a late night parliamentary debate. In early November 2014, multiple election campaign signs for Heidi Victoria were defaced with swastikas and offensive language throughout the Heathmont and Bayswater area. Victoria was quoted saying “The other reason this is really disappointing is that we pride ourselves in Australia as being a free country and democratic society"

References

External links

Parliamentary voting record of Heidi Victoria at Victorian Parliament Tracker
{{DEFAULTSORT:Victoria, Heidi 1967 births Living people Members of the Victorian Legislative Assembly Ministers for Women (Victoria) Liberal Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Victoria Politicians from Melbourne RMIT University alumni Australian people of Austrian descent Australian people of New Zealand descent 21st-century Australian politicians 21st-century Australian women politicians Women members of the Victorian Legislative Assembly 20th-century Australian photographers Ministers for the Arts (Victoria) Women's ministers of Australia